The protective effect of resveratrol on the hepatic injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis

Objective: To demonstrate the protective effect of resveratrol (RES) on the hepatic function in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Methods: Ninety-six male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham-operation (SO) group, SAP group, dexamethasone-treated (DEX) group and resveratrol-treated (RES) group, each group having 24 rats which were evaluated at 3, 6, and 12 h during the experiment. Serum hepatic function was determined by biochemical detection. Serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels were determined by ELISA. The ultrastructure of hepatic and pancreatic tissues was observed by transmission electron microscope. The expressions of the apoptosis-related genes and proteins Bcl-2, Bax caspase-3 and cytochrome C were observed using semiquantitative RT-PCR and Western blot techniques respectively. Results: The serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and total bilirubin levels were significantly higher in SAP group than in SO group. The levels of AST, ALT and TBIL in RES group were lower than those in SAP group at all the time points (P<0.05), while there was no statistical significance between RES and DEX groups at any time points (P>0.05). The serum TNF-a and IL-6 levels were higher in SAP group than in both RES group and DEX group (P<0.05). In SAP group, pancreatic and hepatic congestion, edema, inflammatory cell infiltration, mitochondrial swelling and cell apoptosis were apparent. In RES group and DEX group, pancreatic and hepatic morphological changes were alleviated at all the time points. In both RES and DEX groups, the mitochondrial membranous electric potential of hepatocytes was higher than in SAP group at any time point (P<0.05). In comparison with those in SAP group, the expressions of Bcl-2 increased, whereas the expression of Bax, caspase-3 and cytochrome c decreased significantly in RES group (P<0.05). The results of Western blot and RT-PCR were consistent, and no significant differences were found in all the indicators between RES group and DEX group. Conclusion: Resveratrol could decrease hepatic cell apoptosis and improve hepatic injury in SAP rats.